What saddens and frustrates me so much is that both pro-choice and pro-life advocates want EXACTLY THE SAME THING: FEWER ABORTIONS. Pro-lifers touting pro-choicers as merry baby-killers who dance a jig every time someone gets a D&C are despicable. No pro-choice acitivist WANTS people to have more abortions. They just want people to have them safely if they *need* them (and yes, what constitutes "need" is a slippery fish), but an ounce of prevention is still worth many, many pounds of cure in this case. It's in the prevention methods that the difference of opinions becomes really infuriating. Abstinence-only sex education is almost criminally negligent. But the difference comes regarding the nature of sex itself. Again, we all share the same idea that sex is powerful and slightly dangerous and not to be taken lightly. But the religious-based arguments against sex are all based on the idea that sexual desire is unnatural and bad, and therefore the only way to handle it is to reject it except in very narrow, rarified circumstances. Conversely, the more inclusive programs teach that sexual desire is not inherently bad, but an urge like any other and can be managed in a variety of ways. And this lack of condemnation, I think, is what makes it effective. Because trying to stem the tide of adolescent and post-adolescent hormones is a losing battle. And trying to paint sex as bad and unnatural could potentially be as damaging as an eating disorder. We don't tell our kids that getting hungry or thirsty or lonely or tired is bad, do we?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 08:53 am (UTC)It's in the prevention methods that the difference of opinions becomes really infuriating. Abstinence-only sex education is almost criminally negligent. But the difference comes regarding the nature of sex itself. Again, we all share the same idea that sex is powerful and slightly dangerous and not to be taken lightly. But the religious-based arguments against sex are all based on the idea that sexual desire is unnatural and bad, and therefore the only way to handle it is to reject it except in very narrow, rarified circumstances. Conversely, the more inclusive programs teach that sexual desire is not inherently bad, but an urge like any other and can be managed in a variety of ways. And this lack of condemnation, I think, is what makes it effective. Because trying to stem the tide of adolescent and post-adolescent hormones is a losing battle. And trying to paint sex as bad and unnatural could potentially be as damaging as an eating disorder. We don't tell our kids that getting hungry or thirsty or lonely or tired is bad, do we?